What's In A Name?
by ItalianPrincess92
Summary: "When you feel my heat, look into my eyes. It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide. Don't get too close, it's dark inside. It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide..."


**A/N: Ciao, everyone! This is just a little one-shot that popped into my head and I had to write it  
**

**Partially inspired by the song "Demons" by Imagine Dragons, and by Tangled fanart**

**I do not own any Tangled characters**

**Enjoy!**

Rapunzel spread her fingers over the dewy grass, feeling the damp earth just below the emerald blades.

She and Eugene were sitting outside, supported by the thick trunk of a towering oak, its waning foliage not doing much to shade them from the low-hanging October sun.

The meadow was a favorite spot for the two, but at the moment, a nagging issue was preventing the young princess from enjoying it.

"Eugene, can I ask you something?"

He looked up at her from his book, _The Tales of Flynnigan Rider: The Swashbuckler and the Swordsman, _simultaneously folding a corner of the page to mark his place.

"What's up?"

Rapunzel gathered a fistful of grass and tore it from the ground.

"What do you think of my name?" she asked hesitantly, letting the grass fall into her lap in a neat pile.

He raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

"Your name?"

She nodded, embarrassed for asking such a silly question.

Rapunzel had been home less than three months, and ever since she'd returned to Corona, a whole slew of insecurities that she never knew she had sprang up, leaving her feeling more vulnerable than ever.

_Was her nose _too _tiny? Were her eyes _too _big? Why did her feet turn in like that when she walked? Did she have too many freckles? What about that miniscule gap between her two front teeth? Was it as noticeable to everyone else like it was to her?_

"I love your name," Eugene said.

Rapunzel was skeptical. "_Really?_ You don't think it's... weird?"

Now Eugene was really confused. He placed his book on the ground between them. "No. Why do you say that?"

She shrugged. "It's not a normal name. I mean... it's a vegetable."

He chuckled. "Maybe, but I love it. It's unique."

Rapunzel wasn't totally convinced. "You're just saying that."

Eugene scooted closer to her. "No, I'm not. After all, which one of us took on a brand new identity for a whole decade?"

He tapped the cover of the book, where his childhood hero was squaring off against his foe in a perpetual duel.

"Trust me," he continued, gazing down at the illustration. "if anyone's an expert on not liking their name, it's me. In fact, I used to hate it. To me, it represented the poor, helpless orphan boy who no one wanted. When I became Flynn, I felt completely different. For the first time, I was independent. There was no one to answer to. I liked that. And honestly, I figured I was going to spend the rest of my life as him." Eugene raised his head to look at her. "But then one day, someone came along and helped show me that the person I thought I was wasn't the real me."

She smiled.

"Besides, what about your middle name?" Eugene asked.

"My what?"

"Your middle name," he repeated. "You know?"

Rapunzel stared blankly. He might as well have spoken another language.

"What is that?"

"Well, usually, people have three names," he explained, "a first, middle, and last name."

This was news to Rapunzel, and the concept of having a second name equally intrigued and perplexed her.

"Oh. Mother-" she stopped herself. Using that title to refer to the woman who had raised her was something that Rapunzel was trying to stop from doing. But after eighteen years, it still proved a very difficult habit to break.

"I don't have a middle name," she corrected herself softly.

"Do you want one?" asked Eugene.

"Yeah. I mean, I guess. I don't know. How do I do that?"

"You and I could think of one," he said. "What do you say?"

That answer surprised her, as she didn't think that a middle name was something that someone could acquire so easily.

"We can? Just like that?"

"Sure, why not? It'll be fun," he said confidently.

Rapunzel's face lit up. "Okay. But I have one more question. What's _your _middle name?"

"Mine?" Eugene gave a sheepish laugh. "It's, uh, it's Gustav."

"Huh... Eugene Gustav Fitzherbert," Rapunzel said slowly.

"It was my grandfather's name - my mother's father," he told her. "I actually didn't know until I left the orphanage and one of the nuns gave me a letter that my mother had written for me when she... dropped me off."

He bit the inside of his cheek and stared off at the castle that was on top of the hill. Eugene rarely talked about his past, especially his childhood, and Rapunzel could see how much it pained him to do so.

She pushed his book away from them and leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder. "I like it. It suits you."

"Thanks, Blondie," he said. His tone was grateful.

A sudden burst of chilly air blew across the meadow and Rapunzel snuggled tighter against him.

She shivered, but only for a second, because just as quickly as the wind had come through, it died down, the only evidence of its presence being a few more fallen leaves from the tree looming above. Rapunzel then peeked over her shoulder and grabbed the sketch pad and pencil that she always had on hand.

Hurriedly, she flipped it open to a clean sheet and scribbled something at the top of the page.

She placed the leather-bound book in Eugene's lap, beaming.

He picked it up to read what she had written:

_Middle Names for Me_

Eugene returned the smile. "Let's begin then, shall we?"

-o-

Quite some time later, Eugene went from his sitting position to laying in the grass, his arms tucked under his head and his ankles crossed.

The sun, which had previously been a golden orb in the sky, was now nothing more than an orange sliver over the horizon.

Meanwhile, Rapunzel was on her stomach beside him, poring over the papers before her.

There were numerous sheets ripped out of the book and they were all crinkled, covered in words and ashy smudges from the graphite.

Eugene had tried to help her, but after she vetoed most of his suggestions, he decided it was best to give her some space.

She hastily scribbled something, only to cross it out seconds later.

"No..." she muttered.

A few minutes later, he turned over on his side and lightly touched her arm. "Rapunzel?"

"Mmm?" Her response was automatic, and it was likely she barely heard him.

"I think we should head inside now. It's getting dark, and cold, and-"

Rapunzel froze and whipped her head in his direction, a strange sort of panic clouding her eyes. "No, not yet! I haven't come up with a name."

"Well, we can continue that inside," he said. "It's not-"

"_No_, I have to do this _now_," she protested. "It's important." There was an urgency in her voice that Eugene had never heard, and that worried him.

"Hey... what's this about?" He sat up and patted the soft grass. "Come here."

Her stubbornness temporarily paralyzed her, but seeing his concern, she scooted over, hugging her knees to her chest.

Eugene gently titled her chin up so that their eyes met. "What's going on? Tell me," he coaxed.

Rapunzel sniffled. "I don't know," she whispered shakily. "I just..."

"Just what? It's okay," he encouraged.

She bit her tongue in a feeble attempt to stay quiet, but the longer she did, it felt like a weight was crushing her, and she knew that could not keep these poisonous thoughts a secret anymore.

Inhaling sharply, she opened her mouth and the words tumbled out, each fighting the other to escape.

"I had my whole life taken from me, and I had no say in it. It's stupid, but I guess I thought that choosing a middle name was a way to have control over something and to finally feel good about myself."

"It's not stupid, Rapunzel," he said. "And what do you mean, 'to finally feel good about myself'?"

Her bottom lip trembled. "Every time I look in the mirror, all I see are things that are wrong with me."

_"What?" _Eugene brushed away a tear that had trickled down her cheek. "Honey, how can you possibly think that? There is absolutely nothing wrong with you."

Fresh tears brimmed her eyes. "But there is," she insisted. "My nose, my feet, my teeth - don't you see?"

"You know what I do see? Pure sunshine. Sweetheart, you radiate it. Anywhere you go is instantly brighter because you're there."

A lump rose in her throat.

"Why haven't you told me any of this before?"

"Because I hate myself for feeling this way," she said, her voice cracking. "I'm finally home, and I have you and my parents and I'm so happy, but at the same time, it's like there's this dark cloud hanging over me that I can't outrun." She covered her face with her hands as her tiny frame shuddered with a ragged sob.

Eugene could feel his heart breaking. It killed him to know that she had been holding all of this in. Gingerly, he pulled her on his lap and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Rapunzel, it is not your fault," he said comfortingly. "That witch fed you horrible lies for eighteen years, all for her own personal gain. I can't even imagine what that must have been like. You're the strongest person I know."

She swallowed hard. Dried tears stained her porcelain skin.

"But I need you to know something," he went on, cupping her face in his hands. "For a long time, you were alone, but I'm here now. It's my job to protect you and I never want you to feel an ounce of pain ever again. Promise me that anytime you start to feel anything less than your absolute best, you'll tell me. _Please_."

His plea pierced the last bit of wall that she had built up, and a sense of tranquility washed over her. The weight was gone. "I promise," she said, and a small smile graced her lips.

He mirrored her expression and then glanced over to her notebook. "Can I see that?"

Rapunzel reluctantly handed it to him. "I couldn't think of any."

"We just haven't found the right one. We will, though," he assured her.

Eugene skimmed the pages and saw that many of the names were different types of flowers: _Rose, Violet, __Petunia..._

Knowing that she had a botany book as only one of three reading materials growing up, this didn't surprise him.

Leaning back on his elbows, he stared up at the twilight sky.

As he watched the stars begin to sparkle, an idea suddenly hit him harder than a frying pan to the skull.

He sat up straight, feeling hopeful. "What do you think of the name Adeline?"

"Adeline? Hmm..." Rapunzel turned the name over in her mind a few times. It was feminine and melodic, but there was also a certain quality about it that made Rapunzel believe it was extremely special.

"I love it," she said excitedly. "How did you...?"

"The stars," he replied. "They reminded me."

"Of what?"

"The letter that my mother wrote to me. In it she told me about her parents, Gustav and Adeline."

"Adeline... was your grandmother?"

He nodded. "My mother said they were so in love, inseparable from the day they met. Gustav was tall and funny with a quick wit, and Adeline was passionate and kindhearted, with eyes that twinkled brighter than a thousand stars. They were a 'match made in heaven,' she said, and she prayed every day that I would find someone like that to spend my life with." He paused, a wistful look in his eyes. "Sometimes I wish I knew where she was so I could say 'thank you' and tell her that her prayers were answered."

Hearing him speak so openly about his family, Rapunzel wiped the corner of her eyes, fighting to keep a new wave of tears from spilling over.

"I think she knows," she said, resting her hand supportively on his knee. "Parents have that gift."

A moment of contemplative silence passed between them, and then the trademark mischievous grin returned to his face. "So... Rapunzel Adeline, huh?"

She giggled. "I love it. It's beautiful."

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and kissed her. "I'm really glad. I love you."

"I love you too, Eugene Gustav."

**A/N: I hope you all liked it! Please R&R! **

**Can anyone guess why I gave Eugene the middle name Gustav? (It's not _completely_ random)  
**

**A/N2: I spent quite some time searching for the perfect name. I really wanted something that had German influence, but also had a great meaning behind it. So, after looking on countless baby name sites, I found "Adeline" and loved it. Technically, it is French in origin, but it has Germanic roots. Check! Two, it means "noble" which not only is awesome and exactly what I wanted, but 'Eugene' also has the same meaning, and so it was definitely fate... (destiny, maybe?) :) **


End file.
